Tag: tbr list

Monthly Wrap Up | July 2024

Posted July 31, 2024 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 10 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

July 2024 Wrap Up

July was another hectic month, but for positive reasons this time. June was hard and it made me realize I needed to change certain things and build better habits. Obviously, things don’t change overnight, but I think I made a good effort this July to get things started.

I started waking up at 6.30am in the mornings and go for a walk/run (alternating because I’m not quite in good shape yet). Some days are harder than others, but the important thing is that I showed up. I’m also looking into continuing education classes I can take and I’ve been doing some research and legwork on that. I’ve organized and reorganized my workspace and workflow, purged some things in my life that no longer served, and am trying to prioritizing the important stuff.

To be honest, I’m still floundering and some days I’m full of self-doubt and throw out everything I thought I was clear on the day before. We also had a heat-wave this month and some days were so bad I couldn’t bring myself to do anything except lie down on the cool floor and not move.

Still, it was a good month overall, even though I haven’t been very present here on the blog and in the blogosphere. I’ve missed visiting with all of you, and I’m trying to figure out how to manage my time better so I can still do the things I love.

My July 2024 TBR Intentions

  1. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte
  2. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
  3. Feeling Good by David Burns
  4. The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner
  5. Frequency by Penney Pierce
  6. The Enchanted Life by Sharon Blackie

I only read two of my TBR intentions this month, but the good news is that my broader intentions were to read more nonfiction and books I own, and I did that! Out of the 12 books I read this month, five were nonfiction, and eight are books I own! So I did pretty good!

Books Read in July 2024

  1. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
  2. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte
  3. Network Effect by Martha Wells
  4. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
  5. Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky
  6. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
  7. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
  8. Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher
  9. The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher
  10. Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown
  11. The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown
  12. Braiding Sweetness by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Notable Books This Month

I got lucky again this month because almost every single book was great! The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs was a bookclub read, and our bookclub went for a road trip to the Royal Tyrrell dinosaur museum after that, so it added to the experience. It was so much fun and I love spending time with these people!

The picture isn’t very good, unfortunately, but we couldn’t take too many because it was pretty crowded and there were other people wanting to take pictures too.

I also really loved Women in Science more than I expected. It features so many amazing women and their contributions in history, and all the important information is presented so interestingly and succinctly. I loved reading every single one of them.

Project Hail Mary was a reread – I read it a while ago on print, but I keep hearing about how it’s so good on audio, and I really wanted to experience that. I’d been listening to audiobooks through Libby and my library all this time, but PHM was only available through Audible so I finally signed up for it just for this book. That’s how they get you! But hey, so far it’s been worth it. I loved listening to PHM on audio, and I’m enjoying so many other audiobooks on the Audible Plus catalog as well.

As I said, I loved almost every book I read this month, but I’ll leave the rest of the gushing to reviews I’m planning to write for them!

Reading Challenges

I achieved a few of these challenges a couple of months ago, but instead of marking them done I upped the challenges instead. I’m now rethinking that decision, because I haven’t done well in some of the other challenges and I think I should focus on the unfinished ones instead of adding to the challenges I already finished.

August 2024 TBR Intentions

This month I’d like to try knocking out the 52 Book Club 2024 Reading Challenge. I only have five more prompts to go, and I’ve got a couple of books I’m excited to read that would fit the remaining challenges, so I think it would be very doable.

The prompts are:

  • 13. An academic thriller
  • 17. Nominated for the Booker Prize
  • 37. Palindrome on the cover
  • 42. Author debut in the second half of 2024
  • 48. The word “secret” in the title

I’m planning to read, respectively for each prompt, but subject to change:

  • If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
  • Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
  • The Women by Kristin Hannah
  • Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer
  • The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

I do have some other books in mind for some of these prompts so I might end up changing my mind, but the goal is to finish the challenge so as long as I read books that fit the prompts, I’m good!

How was your month in July? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful August with lots of great books!

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Monthly Wrap Up | June 2024

Posted July 3, 2024 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 2 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

June 2024 Wrap Up

June was a difficult month for me for a few different reasons and I wasn’t able to do a lot on the blog. I didn’t read very many books compared to last month, but I did spend a lot of time escaping into books, which was good. I’ve been emotionally exhausted and haven’t wanted to post on the blog at all, but I get hesitant about reading more books if I’ve left a lot of books unreviewed. I also needed to get this monthly update done because I’d feel like something was missing if I didn’t!

I’m just doing the bare minimum for now, so please bear with me. I’m trying to sort myself out and I’ll be back to normal as soon as I can. Also, I know I have a lot of blog visiting to catch up on. I’m sorry!

My June 2024 TBR Intentions

  1. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
  2. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
  3. Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  4. Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  5. Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  6. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
  7. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
  8. Nina the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
  9. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
  10. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
  11. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Books Read in June 2024

  1. Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
  2. Heartstopper 2 by Alice Oseman
  3. Heartstopper 3 by Alice Oseman
  4. Heartstopper 4 by Alice Oseman
  5. Heartstopper 5 by Alice Oseman
  6. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
  7. Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  8. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
  9. Far From You by Tess Sharpe
  10. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
  11. You Like It Darker by Stephen King
  12. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Voung

Notable Books This Month

Almost every single book I read this month was great!

I think my favorites were the Heartstopper books, which really surprised me because I didn’t think I’d be interested in reading about teenage boys, but it was the most wholesome, happy, cute book and I loved all the characters!

You Like It Darker by Stephen King was another favorite, but no surprise there, I knew I was going to love anything he wrote. Every single one of the stories were great, and I really just keep wanting more!

Another book that did surprise me is On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. I went in not knowing much about it but ended up finishing the book in one day because it was just so lyrical and beautiful and I couldn’t stop listening.

Hello Stranger and David Copperfield were amazing too, but there were too many strong contenders this month! I think Hello Stranger is my favorite Katherine Center book so far, and David Copperfield is just so good especially after reading Demon Copperhead.

It’s not my intention to list every book I read this month, just the notable ones, but it’s not my fault that they were all so good!

Reading Challenges

July 2024 TBR Intentions

This month I want to try to make a dent on more nonfiction and books I own. I’ve neglected them for years, so I want to at least try to get some read!

  1. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte
  2. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
  3. Feeling Good by David Burns
  4. The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner
  5. Frequency by Penney Pierce
  6. The Enchanted Life by Sharon Blackie

I still want to read fiction and books I listed for last month’s TBR, but I want to try to prioritize these for the month.

How was your month in June? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful July with lots of great books!

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Sunday Post | It’s Time

Posted June 16, 2024 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 10 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. 

To Say Goodbye

Late Monday night, we got news that my father-in-law passed away. It wasn’t unexpected, but we thought he’d have more time. I didn’t know my FIL as well as I would’ve wanted to but my husband was understandably distraught, and all I could do was try to be there for him. It was a somber week, but mixed in with wonderful memories and stories about my FIL. On Thursday we went to the temple to pray and say goodbye. It was nice.

In other news, the water main break is still being fixed and we’re still being asked to ration water use. Apparently it’s worse than they thought and the latest news is that it’s going to take an additional 3-5 weeks to fix! I have no idea how that’s going to work out since Calgary is having the Stampede soon and we’ll have visitors/performers/acts coming in and using more water than usual. Hopefully, it will get fixed sooner than estimated.

Nothing much else happened last week. I’ve been emotionally exhausted but in relatively good spirits, and husband is doing relatively well too. I’ve still got lots of book reviews to catch up on, comments to reply to, and I’ve missed visiting your blogs and finding out what everyone has been up to. Fingers crossed this week will be absolutely boring and uneventful and I’ll get caught up on the blog stuff.

Laundry and all water-related chores is another story.

All the happy things:

  1. We found a bistro near our place that has delicious food and the most friendly and helpful staff!
  2. I got some really great deals from the Audible sale! I got all the Murderbot books – the dramatized versions, and the Bobbiverse books, a couple of T. Kingfisher books, and some Dragonlance books too! It’s on the Audible US store, and it ends Sunday night, but if you’re a member and somehow missed it, you’ve probably still got some time to get some deals quick!
  3. I finished all the Heartstopper books the week before, so I started watching the TV series last week. I haven’t gotten far but I have loved every single episode so much! Nick and Charlie are just so adorable, I can’t stand it!

The Books

Books I read last week:

  1. Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – The first half of the book was great, but I finished the second half of the book Tuesday evening and had been mostly preoccupied since the news about FIL on Monday, so I feel like I wasn’t fully present. I still really enjoyed it and really want to continue the rest of the series!

Books I’m (still) reading:

  1. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – I’m on hour 28 of this 36-hour audiobook! Almost there! It’s really good but the preoccupation with irl stuff isn’t helping and there are certain details that confuse me, even when I go back and repeat some of those parts. This is a book I fully intend to reread in the future though, along with Demon Copperhead, so I’m content even if I only understand 50% of it.

Last Week on The Blog

I did squat on the blog this week. 😭

This Week

I’m just going to do my best.

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

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Sunday Post | Fever in the Morning

Posted June 8, 2024 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 7 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. 

Fever All Through The Night

Sunday we went to the annual Lilac Festival and before I go any further, I should clarify that it’s not a festival for lilacs! The only lilacs featured were decorative lilacs, but otherwise, it was just a street market full of random things. I knew this so I wasn’t disappointed or anything, I just thought I should clarify because everyone I talked to seemed to think it was for lilacs!

Anyway, it’s an annual street market festival, this year featuring 500+ vendors and 70+ performances, and held from 10am to 6pm. My husband and I were there from 10am until 3pm, and we were exhausted at the end of it! There were so many things to see and explore. The handcrafted items were beautiful, the crafters and performers were amazingly talented, the food all looked and smelled delicious! It became extremely crowded and got increasingly difficult to navigate our way through the crowd, but we had fun!

Also, the weather was nice in the morning, and it got kind of hot actually, but then it rained in the afternoon for a while and then got hot and sunny again later. And I got a fever the next day. 🤒

Yeah, I think I overdid it. I felt nauseous, had no appetite, my skin was feeling really sensitive, I was brain-tired, and my whole body was sore. I had ambitious plans for the week and had to reschedule because I just couldn’t do much of anything Monday through Wednesday. Except read! Yay! (That’s also why I missed Top Ten Tuesday last week too, btw.😭)

Silver lining of being sick, I stayed in bed and read/listened to Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie. I alternated between physical book and audiobook whenever my eyes/ears got tired, and I managed to finish it from Monday to Wednesday!

I felt much better Thursday morning, but unfortunately, I also woke up to a city-wide alert about a water main break and that we had to ration water. They are still trying to fix it even now and we’re encouraged to use as little water as we can. So that means the laundry isn’t done, and is still continuing to pile up even more!

Honestly, I’m feeling really anxious about the state of the house right now after a whole week of not cleaning up because I was sick and then water rationing. I’m distracting myself with other good things as best as I can!

All the happy things:

  1. I made some strides on my work issue – not much because of being sick, but I’ve implemented some of my ideas and it’s early days but it seems to be working. 🤞
  2. I finally finished The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie! I meant to finish it last month but at least I got it read early this month.
  3. It’s strawberry season! I’ve been enjoying lots of strawberries!
  4. I crocheted a couple of summer hats! (Because of the heat at the Lilac Festival and having no hat – I’ve learned my lesson!)
  5. I finally bought a yarn winder – what a game changer! I just got it yesterday and I’ve been using it non-stop since, for fun!
  6. Had a fun jamming session with the husband, plus he taught me a couple of things on the guitar.
  7. We also watched The Martian again because we enjoyed it so much and it’s been a while.
  8. I binged on Heartstopper and omg, I love Charlie and Nick so much! They are the most adorable, cutest couple and they bring me so much joy! I cannot wait to watch the TV series!

The Books

Books I read last week:

  1. Hello Stranger by Katherine Center – I loved this one so much! It was just so fun and while I’m usually not a fan of the miscommunication trope, I loved the way this one played out. I made the mistake of starting this close to bedtime. I thought I could stop halfway at a lull point or something, but it was so good that I couldn’t stop and just read through the night! I finally slept at 4.30am.
  2. Heartstopper: Vol. 2 by Alice Oseman – I’m sorry but Nick and Charlie are just so cute and I can’t stand it!
  3. Heartstopper: Vol. 3 by Alice Oseman – I can’t stop thinking how cute they are! It’s just makes my heart swell!
  4. Heartstopper: Vol. 4 by Alice Oseman – I think this might be my favorite one because of events that happened here that I won’t spoil but they were just so freaking cute!
  5. Heartstopper: Vol. 5  by Alice Oseman – If I had known there was a sixth book, I might not have started the series until it was out. Now I have to wait for the last one!
  6. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie – I’m not sure how I feel about this final book of the series. On the one hand, I love the arcs for several of the characters and the development of the story, on the other hand, I really hated the arcs for some of the other characters. It’s still a great series, but I’m trying to decide if I want to read the other books in the series that are only tangibly related to the characters in this one. We’ll see.

Books I’m reading:

  1. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – I’m still making my way through the audiobook, I’m 10 hours into a 36-hour audio, so there’s still a long way to go!
  2. Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – Finally rereading this, but just starting out! I’m anxious and excited!

Last Week on The Blog

That’s it, that’s all I did this week. 😭

This Week

My plan this week is to finish the Dragonlance Chronicles books; Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning. I also need to get caught up on book reviews, blog visiting, and replying comments. Thank you for being patient with me, my friends!

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

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Monthly Wrap Up | May 2024

Posted June 2, 2024 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 4 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

May 2024 Wrap Up

I read some really great books this month! Yayy! I managed to read 18 books, but only 3 of them were from my May TBR intentions. I got very, very sidetracked! I don’t expect to follow my TBR to the letter, of course, but I’d like to try to rein it in just a little so that I’m actually reading towards my challenges and goals!

My May 2024 TBR Intentions

  1. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
  2. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
  3. What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTeirnan
  4. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
  5. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
  6. The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
  7. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Books Read in May 2024

  1. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
  2. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
  3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  4. Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
  5. Funny Story by Emily Henry
  6. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
  7. Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  8. The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
  9. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
  10. What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan
  11. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
  12. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
  13. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
  14. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
  15. Maybe This Time by Cara Bostone
  16. Mad Love by Wendy Walker
  17. Why Does He Do That? by Lundy Bancroft
  18. Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman

Favorite Book(s) This Month

I should probably rethink this section and do a “Notable Books of the Month” rather than a favorite, because I don’t think I could ever just choose one!

The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie were amazing! I meant to binge through to the third book and write a collective review for the series in May, but I just only finished reading the final book in the series, Last Argument of Kings, today! So I guess it’ll be a June review.

Funny Story was another favorite, maybe my favorite Emily Henry so far! It was hilarious and made me laugh out loud so many times!

Carrie Soto is Back is also a favorite. I love TJR’s books, and I think Malibu Rising and this book is at the top of my favorite TJR books!

Reading Challenges

June 2024 TBR Intentions

I’m trying to be good and focus on the books I meant to read and/or that count towards my reading challenges and goals, but there are several books listed here that had been scheduled as buddy reads and bookclubs’ BOTM, so I’m just going to do my best!

  1. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
  2. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
  3. Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  4. Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  5. Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  6. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
  7. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
  8. Nina the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
  9. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
  10. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
  11. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

I’m most excited for the Dragonlance Chronicles because I’ve been wanting to reread them for ages, but I’m excited about the other books too!

How was your month in May? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful June with lots of great books!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands on but Still Haven’t Read

Posted May 27, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 37 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands on but Still Haven’t Read

There have been so many books I was super excited about but ended up not reading. These are some of the ones I’m still excited about and still want to read as soon as possible, but haven’t yet for some reason or other.

Top Ten Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands on but Still Haven’t Read

  1. The Glass Chateau by Stephen P. Kiernan – I love Stephen P. Kiernan’s books and I’m really excited to read this one too, but his books are the kind that require savoring and that means I have to find the right time and mental head space to read them.
  2. Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane – Mhairi’s books are categorized under romance, but they’re not quick, fun and silly romances. They tend to highlight serious real life issues as well and I love that about them, so I want to be fully present when I read this.
  3. The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin – I loved the two previous books I’ve read by MM, and I know I’ll love this too. They’re just pretty heavy because of the subject matter, but they’re also hopeful and heartwarming, and I’m looking forward to reading this soon.
  4. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder – I think the thing holding me back with this one is that there are at least six books in the series and I’m just scared of starting a new series when there are so many I haven’t finished yet.
  5. Shark Heart by Emily Habeck – Nothing holding me back with this one, I just haven’t gotten to it yet.
  6. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan – Another one in the queue I intend to get to really soon!
  7. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson – And this one too! I meant to read this and the above book this month, but I had other time obligations!
  8. Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – I’ve got a planned buddy read for this series in June, and I’m anxiously awaiting it! It’s a reread for me, but it’s been a while and I’m excited to revisit the nostalgia!
  9. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie – I very recently finished the first two books in this series and I would’ve immediately started the next one, except my book buddies want me to wait for them. They’re supposed to have the book in a couple of weeks, but if they take longer than that, all bets are off!
  10. The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent – I was so excited about this and I still am, but I haven’t gotten around to it. Soon!

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Monthly Wrap Up | April 2024

Posted April 30, 2024 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 5 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

April 2024 Wrap Up

I finished 16 books this month and there were a lot of really good ones! A couple of them were books I started months ago and just happened to finish this month (The Count of Monte Cristo and Blitz). There were a couple of poetry, graphic novels, and short books.

I managed to finished four of my intended TBR, and there was one DNF, but overall I’m happy because I finished the ones with deadlines (book clubs/buddy reads/readalongs) and I can read the others later.

My April 2024 TBR Intentions

  1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  2. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
  3. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal (DNF)
  4. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
  5. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross
  6. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
  7. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
  8. The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
  9. The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

Books Read in April 2024

  1. Funny Feelings by Tarah Dewitt
  2. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
  3. The Way Forward by Yung Pueblo
  4. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
  5. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
  6. Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent
  7. The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
  8. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  9. Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham
  10. The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
  11. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  12. Slewfoot by Brom
  13. Blitz by Daniel O’Malley
  14. I’ll Be Gone In The Dark by Michelle McNamara
  15. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
  16. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

Favorite Book(s) This Month

Oh I don’t like this game anymore! I cannot choose one, there were so many amazing books this month! I’m gonna cheat and go with multiple books; The Way Forward, Bookshops & Bonedust, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Kite Runner!

On The Blog

Top Ten Tuesdays

Time Travel Thursdays

Sunday Posts

Reading Challenges

May 2024 TBR Intentions

I’ve already started on The Blade Itself, and Sea of Tranquility is for my in-person book club for May. Hopefully I’m able to finish as many of the other books as possible.

  1. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
  2. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
  3. What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTeirnan
  4. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
  5. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
  6. The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
  7. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

I’ve been anticipating some of them since the beginning of the year and I’m excited to get to them as soon as I can!

How was your month in April? What were your most memorable moments? I hope you have a wonderful May with lots of great books!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon

Posted April 22, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 31 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon.

The keywords here are “books I want to read soon”. I have a whole lot of unread books on my shelves that go back a long way, but a lot of the books I want to read soon are relatively new to the TBR just because I like bright, shiny, new things. I will try to list the older ones though. I’m also not adding books I want to reread soon because technically they’re not unread.

Top Ten Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon

  1. Dracula by Bram Stoker – This has probably been on my TBR longest out of the other books on this list but then again I have a lot of classics on the TBR that I mean to read one day. I started listening to this on audio a couple of years ago, but had to stop because it got scary when I was listening to it to sleep.
  2. The Glass Château by Stephen P. Kiernan – This book was only published last year, but it feels like it’s been on my TBR for a long time because I’d been waiting for it since the author announced it two years ago. I was so excited for it but it’s a year later and I still haven’t read it! I need to remedy that!
  3. Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane – Same story as above. It was only published last year, but I’d been waiting for it and I really want to read it soon.
  4. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder – This has been on my TBR for years and years and years, and I don’t know why I haven’t gotten to it! I mean to start it this year. For sure!
  5. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson – I only added this to the TBR late last year, I think, or early this year. So it’s really new, but it’s one of the really shiny and new-to-me books I want to read soon.
  6. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara – This has been on my TBR for 4-5 years? I want to read it but kept putting it off because I haven’t felt emotionally strong enough for the dark subject matter. I feel like I’m ready now.
  7. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – Another classic that’s been on the TBR for ages, but I want to read it soon because Demon Copperhead is apparently based off of it, and I want to read that soon too!
  8. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver – I heard so many good things about this book and I’m really excited for it. I added it to the TBR last year, so it’s relatively new too.
  9. Ariadne by Jennifer Saint – I think I added this one to the TBR three years ago on a mythology binge. I still really want to read it sooner rather than later.
  10. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna – Added last year and really want to read it very soon! It sounds really fun and many people have said good things about it.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Monthly Wrap Up | March 2024

Posted April 3, 2024 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 4 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

March 2024 Wrap Up

I only read eight books this month, which isn’t bad at all, but last month I read a whole bunch so I had expected better for this month. I also had a couple of reading slumps, and I was reading a few really dense and thick books. I felt like I was slogging through molasses. Hopefully April will be better!

My March 2024 TBR Intentions

  1. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
  2. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
  3. A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
  4. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross
  5. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
  6. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
  7. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherworlds by Heather Fawcett

Books Read in March 2024

  1. A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
  2. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
  3. The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
  4. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
  5. Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday
  6. Signal Moon by Kate Quinn
  7. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
  8. Bear by Marian Engel

Favorite Book This Month

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo. The Sparrow was really amazing too and I’d say technically, it’s a better book than The Fox Wife, but it was a much more difficult read emotionally and so for that reason I enjoyed The Fox Wife more.

On The Blog

Top Ten Tuesdays

Time Travel Thursdays

Sunday Posts

Notes & Discussion Posts

Reading Challenges

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge – 3/12
2024 Series Ender Reading Challenge – 1/5
2024 Finishing the Series Challenge – 2/4
2024 Diversity Reading Challenge – 4/12
2024 Bookish Books Challenge – 3/10
2024 Audiobook Challenge – 16/30
2024 Library Love Reading Challenge – 27/36

April 2024 TBR Intentions

I still want to read the books I didn’t get to in March, so I’m bringing them forward. I don’t think I’ll be able to finish all of these in April, but who knows. I should also probably add some nonfiction and classics in there for my reading challenges, but I figure since there are more diverse authors on this list, I could potentially knock out a few for my Diversity reading challenge, and then catch up to the other challenges later.

  1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  2. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
  3. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal
  4. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
  5. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross
  6. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
  7. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
  8. The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
  9. The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

I’m looking forward to all of these!

How was your month in March? What were your most memorable moments? I hope you have a wonderful April with lots of great books!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books Beginning with A

Posted March 25, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 29 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Movies/TV Shows That Would Have Made Amazing Books

I can’t think of very many ideas for today’s topic, so from now on I’m going to go with books in alphabetical order every time I need an easy go-to topic, an idea I’m stealing from Pam @ Read! Bake! Create! I think it’s genius!

So here are the Top Ten Books on my TBR beginning with A. These are all books I intend to read, hopefully soon, but definitely eventually.

Top Ten Books Beginning with A

  1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – I actually got about 30% into this audiobook but stopped because I was getting confused with the names and characters and wanted to switch over to a printed copy. I’m not sure if I’ll pick up where I left off or start over again. Or maybe I should just keep going with the audiobook and not worry about getting all the details right.
  2. Ariadne by Jennifer Saint – It’s been on my TBR since a Greek mythology binge a few years ago. I’d love to finally read it some time really soon!
  3. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan – I’ve read this, but not the other books in the series. And I read it long enough ago that I don’t remember a thing and have to reread before diving into the next books.
  4. All That’s Left to Say by Emery Lord – I’ve read a few of Emery Lord’s books and enjoyed them, so I really want to read this one too.
  5. Accidentally Amy by Lynn Painter – I’ve heard so many good things about this author but haven’t read a single book by her. I thinking I have to remedy this and also possibly use it for the 52 Book Club Prompt 25: An author “everyone” has read except me.
  6. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal – Another author I’ve heard good things about, and another possibility for the same prompt.
  7. A Theory of Haunting by Sarah Monette – So this books sounds really scary and satisfyingly creepy, and for some reason I feel the need to give myself some sleepless nights.
  8. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells – The second book in the Murderbot series. I read the first and loved it and I wanna read the rest of it!
  9. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross – The second book in the Elements of Cadence series. I read the first one and I really want to know what happens next.
  10. A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid – I love fairy tales and tales about faes. How can I resist?

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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